Anne-shallah Hathaway.

Let's start here, for anyone that needs a refresher, and before I start blurring the lines; Arabic is a language, Islam is a faith. There are Christians who speak only Arabic, and there are Muslims who don't speak it at all. The reason the two are conflated is the same reason when you think of a Christian, you think of a European person – a mix of propaganda and "the majority". Most Muslims speak Arabic, and most Arabic speakers are Muslim, and and and – people want you to think all Arabic is scary and "Muslamic" (this is not a word, I'm meme-ing).

"Inshallah" means "if god wills it" – it's the Arabic version of "God Willing" in English. Again, anyone of any faith can say it.

It's just...well...I did not expect an inshallah from Anne Hathaway! PRINCESS OF GENOVIA!

There has been an uptick, dareisay since a certain October date, of people who don't speak Arabic, and people who aren't Muslim, using Arabic in their day-to-day lives. It's become a rapid antidote to the rising tide of Islamophobia – and though some within the community fear these phrases are being gentrified, flattened or appropriated, a lot of us – myself included – absolutely LOVE this trend. You don't even have to believe in god to use it – it's kind of like "Bless You" to me. When people sneeze, do you believe you're warding away demons? No! It's polite!

However, these terms are a little different – as someone of Sudanese Muslim descent, we use these terms almost superstitiously. I say that not to other us (many other Muslim and Arabic-speaking cultures do this), but to explain my position relative to these terms. I fear bad things will happen if I don't follow it up with an adequate high-five with god. I do believe god exists, but I don't believe god is this overarching patriarch – rather, a connection to the origin of things. god is genderless to me, and also really, really magic. Like, the epitome of love and protection. I don't believe god is all-powerful, though. Discussion for another time.

So when Anne Hathaway said she hopes to live a long life, inshallah – like, that was cousin. She wasn't just waving the thought away; she was genuinely superstitious about it! I'm meme-ing, but seriously, it was so refreshing.

Anyway. She used it correctly, she's Anne Hathaway – the woman that was my sapphic awakening – and she's now part of the ummah. We love to see it.

Ironically, this moment from her felt very Torontonian to me - and we happen to be having an Anne Hathaway Week to launch our Cinephile Social Club in Toronto, so it all feels very serendipitous.

We've just launched a jobs board! We have a bunch of opportunities across the Magazine and our Films – Remote and in-Person in London, LA, and Toronto.